London, Dec 16: Chelsea have been handed a boost in their pursuit of attacker Gonzalo Higuain after reports have emerged that AC Milan will not make the loan deal permanent with Juventus following their UEFA penalty.
Milan had been found to be in breach of the break-even requirements of the Financial Fair Play regulations and ban was expected to be imposed from this season.
However, following an appeal, the penalty was withheld for the time being. But on Friday, in a new announcement, UEFA have now addressed a warning to the side suggesting they must break even by June 2021, or will face missing out on European competition in either 2022-23 or 2023-24, assuming they qualify.
They were also told that UEFA would be withholding £10.7million in prize money of this season following their exit from Europa league on Thursday moreover as a further penalty the club will be limited to registering 21 players for European competition should they qualify in either of the next two seasons.
AC Milan are unlikely to consider the purchase option for Gonzalo Higuain after recent FFP issues. Milan’s purchase option on Higuain is €36 million plus €18 million loan fee which is already paid. pic.twitter.com/7qgVZBUuOL
— Juventus Official Fan Club India 🇮🇳 (@JuventusIndia) December 15, 2018
The 31-year-old Argentine has been a hit till now, scoring seven goals in 16 times but now according to reports, with such further complication arrived in front of them Milan owner, Elliott Management are not interested in going through with the extra cost of keeping the ageing forward. Given the situation, reportedly Milan are ready to cut short the deal to settle the finance and could even offer the player to Chelsea in January.
Higuain before moving to Milan on loan was reportedly a target of Chelsea boss Sarri whom he worked with Napoli. However, reportedly the deal did not materialise because of Chelsea's unwillingness to cash on a senior player.
Maurizio Sarri has again asked Chelsea chiefs to sign Gonzalo Higuain next month when the transfer window reopens (Mediaset) pic.twitter.com/4keVdHamn2
— Simon Phillips (@SiPhillipsSport) December 11, 2018